Three years after Biles struggled with a bewildering mental block in Tokyo, withdrawing before the team final where the US had to settle for silver, she led from start to finish with teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Sunisa Lee, regaining gold ahead of Italy with Brazil earning bronze.
When Biles wowed the crowd at Bercy Arena with a gravity-defying floor routine that included two of her signature moves—a double back flip with a half twist and the “triple-double” of two back flips with three twists—the Americans had already won the gold.
With the best cumulative score across all four apparatus, the United States led Italy by a massive 5.802-point advantage with 171.296 points.
Italy’s best finish in the modern period was fourth in Tokyo, notwithstanding their 1928 silver medal.
It was the first Olympic team medal for the Brazilian team captained by gold medallist Rebeca Andrade from the Tokyo vault.
With wins in 2012 and 2016, the Americans claimed their third team gold in four Games.
For a quartet of gymnasts who were all in Tokyo, this one was very lovely.
After a two-year hiatus during which she concentrated on her mental health, Biles is making her way back to the Olympic podium. Since then, Lee, the Tokyo all-around champion, has battled two kidney conditions that could end his career.
The stars were aligned for Biles once more. Prominent figures in the tennis world such as Serena Williams, Nicole Kidman, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates were present, along with Biles’s spouse, NFL player Jonathan Owens, who was sporting a T-shirt featuring his wife’s name and image.
When the American team was announced, the crowd erupted into applause. Biles grinned and blew kisses as they approached the vault podium.
Although Biles chose not to perform her challenging double Yurchenko “Biles II” vault, her less challenging Cheng vault was flawless, and the United States finished the first round leading China by 1.434 points. China’s strong opener on uneven bars featured a stunning performance from Zhang Yihan.
Competition for the crown
On uneven bars, where Lee established the standard with a performance that scored 14.566 points, it was the same story for the USA.
After Chiles yelled and nailed her bars routine, Biles conquered her weakest event, collecting 14.400 points and grinning from ear to ear.
As the United States extended their lead over European champions Italy to 3.102 points at the midway point, the contest had transformed into a virtual coronation.
China, meanwhile, had begun a decline that would ultimately see them finish sixth. They were plagued by the consistency issues that had previously harmed them.
Chiles’ fall on the balance beam was hardly noticeable. With a brilliant beam routine, Lee put the US back on track, while Biles persevered through a few shaky moments on the 10 cm-wide apparatus to record a more than respectable 14.366 score, which sent the US into their final floor exercise with a cushion of 3.602 points.
This was the second of 14 titles in artistic gymnastics up for grabs in Paris; on Wednesday, Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto was going to try to defend his men’s all-around crown.
On Thursday, Biles will compete once more in the women’s all-around final.
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